CHAPTER 177: | MISSING OUT?

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  THE CONCEPT OF TIME

  Time itself is a concept connected to the life and death of all creatures born in the multiverse. Nothing is eternal, nor could any ever hope to be, even when they've become a concept connected to the multiverse like a god, unless one becomes...

  Time encompasses all. Without it, none should be able to function. But with time, it allows mortals, creatures who tread the futility of existence, to be alive, to have a sense of purpose, to discover what others couldn't, to love, to have a family, and to grow old with someone they love before returning to nothingness. While those who had gathered records higher than what a mortal could ever hope to achieve could live a more meaningful life.

  Thus, time itself is an all-encompassing concept that binds us all. Even the one who is called the mother of time had to play by the rules of such a supreme law, so powerful, so encompassing that it affects the causality of existence...

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  Alister could sometimes be seen staring at the title of a book in a daze for hours. The title of the book he was staring at in a daze was 'Concept of Time.'

  The author of the book was none other than him, since only he had a profound understanding of the relativity of time to the law of causality that connects to the concept of existence itself, other than Elara, the mother of time herself.

  Though her understanding wasn't as profound as his, since Alister put great emphasis on all things, as it may lead to a condition for ascendance itself.

  But that great mind was in a trance right now, staring at the title of the book. For the first time in this lifetime, Alister was undergoing another round of enlightenment on how time could connect to existence itself.

  He wrote all of his insights into a tome that was as thick as his head, unconsciously, since multi-tasking was easier than breathing for him. Compiling his new understanding of the concept of time's relativity to existence itself, a topic that few could ever dare to discuss with him, into this book.

  Otherwise, if someone would ask how many times he had read and edited it, Alister would answer that he doesn't know?For why would he bother keeping it in track? When it was such a hassle?

  Even he himself doesn't know his age, for he did not need his existence to be acknowledged just because of his age, nor did he deem it worth his time.

  The faint scent of aged parchment lingered in the air, mixing with the subtle metallic tang of ink that clung to his fingers, grounding his wandering thoughts in the quiet hum of the room.

  "Hmm, I see..." Alister muttered aloud as he finalized the book, then passed it to Clarice, his assistant and the bookkeeper of the church.

  She could be seen enthusiastically receiving the book in his point of view... an unpleasant view, he deemed it to be, since he could roughly see her point of view of him, or what her emotions were right now. Did she hate him? Love him? Or otherwise have a neutral feeling toward him?

  Alister was genuinely curious. He wanted to know her thoughts like the way she perceives them, the way she views them, not just through reliance on his mastery of the world of intent, but in person.

  He wanted to hijack her mind and see her thoughts right at this moment, without any external influence. But he knows that's an impossible task, since even if he does succeed in hijacking her mind to see how she perceives the world, would Alister truly know what he wanted?

  To truly know what others are thinking without any external influences, such as hijacking her mind? Not even relying on his mastery of the world of intent to read others? He knows that's a task only reserved for those who had achieved ascendance, to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and an encompassing being whose existence is never forgotten.

  He sighed, then closed his eyes as he stopped all of his activities. Then he stared at the ceiling, where ten thousand valkyries that Alister had carved into it could be seen in a battle formation, showing their elegance and their grace.

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  He himself could be seen seated at a desk, pondering problems that he had no answers for, or questions that he had no idea how to answer.

  Alister could be seen tapping his finger on the desk, the rhythmic thump echoing faintly against the polished wood, as he openly sighed at how noisy it had become after Samantha declared war on the Empire.

  Though he could easily remove the noise for good so that he could focus on the task at hand right at this moment, did Alister see the need to go to such lengths to silence some noise he might take inspiration from? No, Alister didn't see the need to do so.

  Why would he? When those cute kittens are whispering at each other about the church's current situation with concern?Instead of worrying about such things, Alister merely smiled at their choir.

  At Anastasia, who was preoccupied with coordinating the thousands of military bases scattered all around the empire. She called the representatives of each base to issue her next orders, what to expect and not to expect, while also advising them on how to solve their current situations. And managing the resource allocation to the thousands of bases with utmost precision, so that no mistake could be found. For Anastasia didn't want any of her sisters to be put in a life-and-death situation.

  In the center of the church, where newly baptized sisters could be seen roaming around naked, with their leader at the center guiding all of them without any issues. Fenda could be seen teaching her sisters' choirs to sing, to praise their goddess, while also teaching them about holiness to become more recognized by their goddess. While also drilling them with etiquette that only highborn nobles are allowed to dabble in, and knowledge that isn't available to the common folk, so that they wouldn't be a disgrace to the church's image, so that blasphemers wouldn't be able to find fault in their church. Their distant echo of harmonious voices rose and fell, carrying a faint floral scent from incense burned during their rituals, weaving through the air like a gentle reminder of devotion.

  In the other side, in a room hidden in shadows, Shuxie could be seen buried in a pile of papers that amounted to a mountain. Shuxie screamed like a banshee as she stared at the reports arriving minute after minute. Since she herself had to compile each of them with utmost precision, to put them into categories in an hour, so that she could comment on a solution if a problem arises, or place importance on a scale of one to ten on the reports. Which then the messiah would read along with her comments and scale of importance, before approving it if she finds it appealing, or tweaking it to her liking if she didn't, so that her fellow sisters could carry out her plan.

  To those foolish enough to compare Shuxie's intelligence work to her other sisters like Anastasia or Fenda, who had it easier, or perhaps Aliya, was neither foolish nor wise. Since Shuxie herself, the intelligence network, the brain of the church, was put in a dire situation where her every action would put implications on thousands of her sisters. Due to a mishap from her subordinates' reports, or due to her lack of insight to not see the grand scheme of things.

  The church was in an overworked state right at this moment. The believers were exhausted from their schedules, practical swordsmanship, practical bowmanship, practical assassination, practical information gathering, practical merchantry, and practical magic casting. Along with the theoretical ones such as swordsmanship, bowmanship, assassination, information gathering, merchantry, and magic casting. Along with clergy duties, choir, prayers, etiquette, holiness, and loyalty.

  The church was in a state of emergency, where every single soul couldn't relax or had the time to leisurely walk around. As all of its followers were preoccupied with their training, while others who had finished their priestly training were deployed to the battlefield, to the kingdoms, to the Empire's imperial capital, to act as a spy, or perhaps as a merchant, or perhaps on a pilgrimage to recruit more followers, to save young girls abused in their respective households and such.

  Alister, the man behind all of this, the one who had caused these massive changes to millions of women due to a single decision to train his wife, couldn't be more satisfied at how hardworking those kittens had become. So he too continued to jot down his ideas in books that Samantha provided him in droves.

  As savants assigned to collect those books entered and left the room with books, Alister himself seated at his desk projected his millions of tendrils to turn into pens that drew their ink from his mana. As he wrote thousands of books per minute, an impossible task to others, but to him, a walking library, it was an easy feat.

  Even in this state, Alister was still pondering other things. As he noted down on his desk with his unoccupied hands his progress on his researches, such as 'The Form of Ascendance,' 'God Core,' 'God Vein,' and others that are far too insignificant to mention, in different books.

  Time passed like this, and a month had gone by with Alister already creating millions of books. Each carrying profound knowledge that is worth more than gold to the ignorant.

  Finally finished with his tiresome work, Alister stretched after a long while, then left his seat as he walked past a savant that he had acquainted for the past few weeks, carrying a dozen books in her hands. "Huhuhu, Clarice, it seems that today marks the end of your service."

  Clarice, carrying tens of books in her hands, stopped her steps as she nodded in acknowledgment at the words of his holiness. Though it indeed was a pity, but she had her duty to uphold. So she smiled, then said in a stoic voice, "Indeed, it is a pity that our paths wouldn't cross for quite a while, your holiness..."

  Though Clarice was regretful that their time had come to an end, she knows that her good feelings toward his holiness wouldn't get her anywhere near her dreams, to serve the church at her fullest. So she regretfully said, "It is a regretful farewell, but I must go, your holiness... Then, if you'll excuse me, your holiness, since I've got more tasks to do."